Rant about All About Passion by Stephanie Laurens ⚠️ Spoilers
⚠️ Spoilers ahead, quotes from one of the 🌶 scenes ⚠️
I DNF'd {All About Passion by Stephanie Laurens}, book #7 in the Cynster series, at ~34%, page 142 out of 424. I was enjoying it, despite some small things that stood out to me.
Then I got to page 142:
She'd been as innocent, as virginal, as he'd suspected, yet... she could love him like this--like a concubine from some sultan's seraglio, skilled and practiced in the sensual arts.
He didn't need to elaborate; her lips curved into a widening smile. "My parents."
Dumfounded, he stared at her. "They taught you?"
She laughed, breathlessly, yet he felt the sound go through him like a shot of the finest brandy, searing straight to his gut, then sliding and pooling lower, fuel for his fire. He released her hair and she pressed to him once more. "No. I watched." She caught his eye, her lips languidly curved. "I was an only child." Her words were little more than a whisper, her body restless on his. "When I was young, my bedroom connected to theirs. They always left the door open, so they would hear if I called. I used to wake and go in... sometimes they didn't... notice. After a while, I'd go back to my bed. I didn't understand, not until later, but I remember."
I'm sorry, what? What do you mean, you know how to love like a concubine because you used to watch your parents? I understand that kids are curious, but what even??
I then skipped to the end to see if the ending made it worth it, it didn't, in my opinion. The FMC's female cousin that had been described as 'in poor health' (p.47), and 'sweet, a little simple, rather helpless' (p.48) ended up at some point going off the deep end, and in one of the final scenes in the book, the cousin threatens to kill the FMC so that she and the husband can be together. It's then painted as a madness that runs in the women of the family. I don't know if there was development in the bit I didn't read, but that also put me off.
All in all, this book thoroughly disappointed me. I was coming off the high of reading and absolutely adoring {On A Wild Night by Stephanie Laurens}, book #8 in the Cynster series, and this book was a fast comedown. I paused/DNF'd {Devil's Bride by Stephanie Laurens} in late June, as I couldn't find myself getting through it in a reasonable amount of time, and I am planning on continuing it later, but I'm a bit less likely to after all this.